| Having 9 to 10 cars on our classic car hire fleet we | | | | or the solvent in my old tin had gone off, and the two |
| have reached the stage where we will probably | | | | solvents attacked each other. |
| re-furbish at least one of them a year. This year it | | | | Back to the Nitromors and it all came off again back |
| was time for our 1961 Jaguar Mk2. It went to the | | | | to bare wood. I thought it worth trying a different tack |
| bodyshop in January to have a few rust bubbles at | | | | and decided to use brush on varnish instead so bought |
| the bottoms of the doors fixed, a few small bits of | | | | a tin of Ronseal quick drying interior varnish. I have |
| welding and a respray. The problem with this is that | | | | used Ronseal products before for domestic |
| the interior can then look tatty in comparison. So we | | | | applications and always achieved good results. Part of |
| ordered a new set of interior panels and decided to | | | | my logic was also that if any runs did appear then I |
| re-furbish the woodwork. | | | | could brush them out before the varnish hardened and |
| Jaguar Mk2s have almost as much woodwork as a | | | | thus remove the risk of runs and the need to sand the |
| small dining room, with veneered door cappings on all | | | | woodwork down yet again. |
| four doors, the dashboard gauges set in wooden | | | | I was doing all this during February and the garage is |
| panels and the dashboard top is a very heavy piece | | | | too cold for varnish as it has to applied at |
| of hard wood, veneered to match the door cappings. I | | | | temperatures of over 10°C, so I painted all four door |
| have re-furbished wood trim in classic cars before so | | | | cappings at room temperature in the kitchen. The |
| decided to this by hand, myself. | | | | Ronseal varnish is water based, is a milky white in the |
| Our woodwork had a slightly odd feature which made | | | | tin, but should dry clear to the required finish. I gave all |
| it uncertain just how much work would be needed. | | | | four door cappings a single coat of Ronseal and |
| Underneath the varnish it was clear that the wood | | | | although it didn't run, it showed a few brush marks. |
| cappings on the two front doors and the dashboard | | | | Normally as varnish dries the surface tension resolves |
| top had some of the wood grain painted on it. Slightly | | | | this as it pulls out all the marks. I quickly brushed over |
| worried that I might find great chunks of veneer | | | | the freshly varnished door cappings to help the |
| missing and having been replaced by loads of painted | | | | process. |
| filler, I very gingerly removed all the varnish with | | | | Disaster |
| Nitromors paint stripper. | | | | The quick drying varnish was virtually dry after only 10 |
| I have used this before when I re-furbished the | | | | minutes and as I brushed the varnish it went all lumpy |
| woodwork in our MG RV8 a few years so knew that | | | | and grainy. It also never went clear, drying to a slightly |
| it is effective in removing the varnish without attacking | | | | milky colour. |
| the veneer. After several applications of Nitromors, | | | | Back to the Nitromors to strip it all off again. This time |
| with careful scraping, finished off with a final application | | | | the stripper and water based varnish turned to mush |
| being rubbed off with wire wool, I was left with bare | | | | and was extremely difficult to remove. Eventually all |
| wood. All the painted grain had disappeared but all the | | | | removed and cleaned back to bare wood I returned to |
| veneer was in good condition, with no sections missing. | | | | Plan A - spray varnish. |
| I came to the conclusion that the New Zealand sun | | | | This time using just the new tins of varnish and |
| (where the Mk2 had spent most of its life) had | | | | spraying it on in extremely thin coats, about 10 in all and |
| bleached the varnish and rather than strip it all off, a | | | | leaving the varnish to harden at room temperature, I |
| previous owner had painted wood grain onto the | | | | achieved a suitable finish. The surface is very smooth, |
| varnish and then varnished over the top. | | | | the wood grain clear and vibrant and it is now possible |
| Relieved that I didn't have to go to the expense of | | | | to see that the front door cappings are mirror images |
| having it all re-veneered I then proceeded to varnish it. | | | | of each other, as are the rear pair and the dashboard |
| When I re-furbished the MG RV8 woodwork back in | | | | veneer is a mirror image left and right. |
| 2003 I used a spray polyurethane varnish which gave | | | | So lots of work, but well worth it. The interior of our |
| a very good finish. I used the same approach and | | | | Jaguar Mk2 now looks as good as the freshly painted |
| indeed the same tin of varnish which was still in my | | | | exterior. |
| garage. The first couple of coats sprayed on OK, | | | | Lessons learnt |
| although I had a few small runs appear. I sanded these | | | | - Spray varnish is better for such applications that |
| down and applied another coat. No problem. The tin of | | | | brush on varnish. |
| varnish depleted, I bought another couple of tins of the | | | | - Don't use old tins of varnish, even if they don't have a |
| same product and added another coat. | | | | use before date on the tin. |
| Disaster | | | | - Spray it on as thinly as possible, leave to drive at |
| The new coat of varnish attacked the varnish I had | | | | room temperature. |
| already applied and it all wrinkled a bit like the 'crackle' | | | | - Then do it again, and again and again. |
| finish paint on our MGB. I guess that either the | | | | In short - preparation and patience. |
| manufacturer has changed the recipe for their solvent, | | | | |